Depending on my mood, and how much time I have, I can be really realistic when flying a FS route, like snapping off each checklist properly, starting the plane cold and dark at the departing airport, following ground instructions to a T, and doing everything else just right. But sometimes I pull out and pass AI planes on the taxiway, race an AI plane for final-approach position, and maybe land anyway when one of the #@!#$%& AI planes wont clear the runway.So Im asking: How realistic do you fly?

About the same.Most of the time I do the cold and dark with my R4D which I fly most of the time. It's just nice to get in and start up like ol' Bill does up at MAAM.

Same for me, but I do find the more realistic I try to make it the more enjoyable the flight and the more fun I have "debriefing" what I did right and what I did wrong.Still, sometimes I just have to see if I can fly a DC9 inverted under the Golden Gate Bridge, or see how close I can get a F16 to an AI jetliner.

Playing homeland security is one of the most fun sideshows, I have found. I frequently sit ready to launch on an add-on carrier in the gulf, waiting for an AI plane that looks "threatening", then launch and scramble up to 33K to shadow the guy. Once, I just happened to intercept a USAir 737 near gainesville, florida and stuck with him until landing at MCO. I buzzed the field in the f/a-18, then returned to the carrier, only to crash into the fantail on approach.

I don't know how it is in real, except from my experience from articles, flight videos, traveling with airplane as passenger and reading posts from pilots and flight mechanics etc.I just keep fairly within the realism level that FS sets, and uses as realistic an add-on airplane as possible, currently the PMDG Boeing 737 NG.When testing this and that, I am not realistic at all, though.Nico

I do everything I can when I fly on VATSIM. Charts, real world checklists, you name it, I try to do it. But sometimes, I just takeoff and fly.:-jumpyCheck out my work: http://library.avsim.net/search.php?Search...Weik&CatID=Roothttp://vatsim.pilotmedia.fi/statusindicato...tor=OD1&a=a.jpg------------------Kenneth WeikTWVA395 / [email protected]

hmm..as realistic as can be under the given circumstances:i SU#K at flying simulated aircraft....and even more so at flying REAL aircraft. ;-)but,before i take to the skies i've been planning for an hour,briefing takeoff,calculating power settings,and the whole enchilada.don't know if that is realistic though....

Good Question,On all my flights with the PMDG737-700 and using Radar Contact I fly just as if I was flying the real world, here is what I do.First I check the airline schedule that I want to fly, time and departure/destination so I know the times I am shooting for.Second, I load the plane with a realistic payload, and then flight plan with weather that I get from the internet.Third, I use Radar Contact for real world type ATC and then use FSMeteo to get real time weather.Fourth, I go through a complete pre-flight and then follow the checklist point by point all the way through the flight.Now you may ask why do I go through all this stuff, I used to fly in the USAF and don't know any other way to fly other than by the book. When you fly for real, this is what keeps you alive. For example today flying from KORD TO KDEN if you just put some fuel in the plane and did not check weather you would not know that at FL350 there were 100 mile headwinds. Don't have enough fuel you have three choices, divert to another enroute airport to get some more fuel, cheat and add fuel inflight (booooooooooooo) or crash and burn when you run out of fuel, pax don't like this option either.As someone said, if you really enjoy the experience of flight, then you have to treat it the same way that real world pilots do and plan and run it like you are flying. I really don't enjoy a "cheat" flight, it makes me then know that I am playing a game and not a simulation which this great hobby of ours is really all about.Just My 2 CentsBob Johnson

Ditto, so ditto Bob.I actually think I fly the C-130 better because of MSFS. Not actually because I have a C-130 in the sim, but because I follow checklists, am thinking of how I'm going to fly full procedure approaches, that sort of thing. I was DNIF for a month and a half, but flew the Dash 8 quite regularly, got back in the -130 and didn't fly that poorly, not saying MSFS can substitute for the real thing, but I liken it to riding a stationary bike, then riding a real bike.I try to fly it by the numbers, with the checklists, each and every time. Including all the preflight, INCLUDING notams!!

Realism is my thing in sound.I have cabin crew announcements with Bruce Beneways' panel, where they chatter away 10 to the dozen to the passengers, flight crew, atc, background cabin music (Mp3's in media player in background), external sound files, flaps/gear/doors all adding up to an aural chaos!Good headphones, through good HiFi, makes one wonder how anyone hears anything in cockpit!!(lol) As for flights, I tend to decide to go to somewhere thats in the news. It can be any news item about anywhere. I fly the 737, so have to work out how to get somehwere from wherever I am at the current time.I use GPS and IFR, with airways/vors etc if possible. If not direct GPS.I do fuel management and load with random passengers, baggage, and do the whole flight saving as I need to, and coming back when able.I suppose having done all this the real 'reality' is the landing sequence through whatever real world weather is happening. I usually have traffic at very high if flight is to a bigger airport, so have to take my place in the circle.If I crash/botch landing the whole thing has been a failure! Lets face it take offs are pedal to the (well 70-80%) metal an you gotta go up! the rest is flight management, and cups of coffee!

I am the odd man out here. I give a nod towards realism but there is no nonsense with cold cockpits and the same goes for checklists other that a cursory glance around, I would rather be flying. The default FS2K4 B737-400 is my ideal aircraft, small handy and manoeuvrable. Since I am interested in the Wow factor I usually leave a trail of busted minimums along the scenic routes I seek. I would fly prop aircraft if any of the default props were fitted with autothrottle control.My real world flying experience consists of a twenty minute

I always use charts and flight plans, cold engine starts, real weather and real time. I have come full circle, beginning with the 182 years ago, working up to the aluminum cigars, got bored using autopilots and GPS's (no cockpit load) and now fly turboprops on short feeder routes and lots of VFR in FS9.I am also trying to increase my VATSIM hours, but time and often unannounced disruptions from the cockpit crew make that problematic at times. I also like to use real world events to suggest flights. I flew the Bobby Kennedy tragic flight to Martha's Vineyard, and check real world aviation sites for posts of aircraft crashes which I fly. My VA also has a nice random flight generator for creating routes.MDavis

Most of the time I do the cold and dark with my R4D which I>fly most of the time. It's just nice to get in and start up>like ol' Bill does up at MAAM.Bill Fly??? real planes...??? :-lol Timhttp://www.spottedantelope.com/bwomack/ima...aam-sim_sig.gif

Denis.Getting ancient myself and a Scot, I can appreciate your comments!(lol)It dont get easier with the fast receding grey matter.However, when I did get into the Dreamfleets 737, cold and dark start up routine, I was dead chuffed and was happy to go back to realism (as far as this sim allows) and now get a little bit more fun through challenge. It was the real world flight video with the Dreamfleet that got me hooked in that I was doing what the real world pilot was doing to get the beastie started!! I could never master the Flight Planning into the computer onboard the Dreamfleet or PMDG's 737's. I would step by step enter in instructions from published flight plans only to see my aircraft deep earth gardening, or me having to take over manually. Through this forum I realised I was not alone! Anyway it took too much away from the flying fun!Landing manually at say Maderia or Innsbruck in hellish weather following VOR/ils approaches is for me the real fun after a long flight. We all get what we need from this fantastic

I learned to fly real world about 30 years ago.... I never progressed beyond fixed wing, fixed gear, VFR flight, but that was enough. I even have one deadstick emergency landing to my credit. (Whew! talk about white knuckle flying. :-roll )However with the sim, I tend to cheat quite a bit. I'll often do a virtual walkaround and check the control surfaces. But mostly I jump in with the engine going and just take off. I fly strictly GA VFR; nothing beyond a twin engine retractable and mostly a simple single engine. Over the last several months I've been learning to fly the helos and now that I've gained some skill I find helo flying to be the most fun. However with a nod toward realism, I try not to exceed a craft's performance envelope. If running low on fuel, I find a place to land and top off the tanks. I do not leave the sim without landing and never, never fly in third person (outside the cockpit). My flight simming time is very limited, so I don't generally bother much with the time-consuming checklists, clearance, etc. I'd rather be flying around enjoying the scenery. I'm sometimes envious though of those who really get into it and do everything by the book. -Lindy :-rotor